Finding Old Documents

Last week I went to the genealogy center, as usual I enjoyed my
visit . While I was sitting down looking in the microfilms,Regis
Brun the historian sat down to use the next machine and we started chatting. I enjoy our talks when we do, and this paticular topic was about a talk he was going to give at the library about old documents and I was very interested in what he was saying and I could see it in his face and through his voice how he was so into it all. He talked about his finding old documents. Anyway I looked at the paper a few days later and right on the front page was an article about his talks. I am going to share a a little bit with you.
"The older the better as far as Regis Brun is concerned. The New Brunswick historian gets his greatest thrills when he's discovering a pile of century old love letters in Memramcook, or a French notary's journal in St Petersburg Russia dating from the era of the Acadian Deportation. Brun has been an archivist for fifty years, in love with everything relating to a document, the smell,the touch the sense of discovery. He shared his story captivating his audience with tales of the past. "My father, he said always told me, you're not good at fishing, you might as well stick to books." His conference was titled The pleasure of the document. He sais when he was young when the rest of the family was at mass he would go up to the attic and look into cracks in the wall and pull out things like old dolls or 100 year old newspapers. Documents have always fascinated me.Among the many treasures he has found is a chest  which he had with him at the conference  awing those present with its near 200 year old contents." For me ,he said it was like finding Captain Kidd's Treasure. When I opened the chest I found documents going back  over 200 years belonging to Antoine Gagnon a well known missionary in the area. The chest had letters, promisory notes of the ones who borrowed money from him and how much they owed. For years Brun had heard stories about that chest and it was only in 2003 that one of  Gagnon's relatives contacted him. These documents are now at the genealogy archives in Moncton and the chest donated to the Acadian Museum. Brun continued saying he enjoyed looking through documents as much as talking to people. He said a document is like a novel,with the document in your hands you are touching the lives of men and women.
He also located in St Peterburg Russia the journal of a notary from the Acadian Fort Beausejour, the  which had somehow made its way to the other end of the world.  "
I would love to discover old documents, I often thought how nice it would be to be able to enter an old abandoned hourse or barn and find something important or something relating to my ancestors.
And I agree with Mister Brun, when I look through old documents it makes my ancestors more real to me, showing me that they were not just names  but real people who lived, loved, hurt just as we do.
Now on another note, I would like to say I have added some names from the North Cambridge Roman Catholic Cemetery in Massachussetts courtesy of Sharon who gave me her permission to do so ,you can find the cemetery at http://www.acadian-roots.com/ .
And now changing the subject what does the tie above have to do with this story? Well nothing really but I wanted to remind you that soon it will be Father's Day and you can find this tie, a few Father's Day cards, posters,mugs,steins, shoes that maybe would make a great fathers day gift at
http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*  

thanks for the visit do stop by again soon
Have a great day
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